Minnesota Winters
by imdftmyba
Summary: It's a Saturday back in Minnesota before BTR existed and Kendall is working hard in the snow and ice. But he's exhausted and can't take much more, and his friends are worried about him. Two Shot! Part 1 - Minnesota Winters, Part 2 - L.A. Sickness
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Heyy folks! I have a few story in the works, but I currently lack motivation in them and after watching the entirety of BTR in the space of two weeks, and completely loving the band, and reading some really amazing fan fiction, I decided to give it a go. I'm still learning and improving my writing, so leaving reviews is most appreciated. I mean seriously, if you like it tell me, it'll very easily make my day. If you have ways I could improve, I'd love to hear those too. Thanks!

Summary: Kendall's pushing himself too hard during the Holiday Season at work. This is then not helped but the fact it's winter and cold.

Timeline: The winter before the boys get taken to LA and made into stars. Not sure what age that makes them.

Hope you like it!

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><p>The slowly darkening overhead sky was a cool reminder that the day was falling. With it, was mound upon mound of slowly falling snow. It was a freezing day in Minnesota, most people would argue it was one of the coldest days they'd seen that month. They'd probably be right, and while most would be all wrapped up warm inside watching the snow, or watching their kids as they ran around recking havoc, for some it was still a day like every other that had come before it. Kendall Knight was a teen of many gifts. He was a hard worker, he was a good brother and he was more of an adult than he ever let on. With his friends he could just be Kendall, the leader, the strongest and the one who always enjoyed a bit of fun, to Katie, his little sister, he was the guy she could go to with any problems. She saw him as her own personal Superman. For those that didn't know Kendall, he was that teenager who was always getting into trouble at school, and was slowly falling behind. But Kendall was much more responsible than he would ever say, he needed to be.<p>

A cold gust of wind changed the direction of the falling snow. It was roughly three in the afternoon on a cold Saturday. Kendall was cold, sore and exhausted. He'd been working since eight that morning, and he hadn't gotten in from hockey that night until about eleven that night. He was quietly muttering curses to himself and wishing he was anywhere but in the supermarket parking lot. He was wishing so desperate to be able to go home, and just rest. Spend the day with the friends that meant so much to him. With Katie. But he couldn't, because he had a responsibility to his family, to help provide, be the man of the household. It wasn't easy, but he still had to do it. His mom worked very hard to keep them going, but Kendall knew he had to help out, to be sure they'd never have too many money problems. Just in the freezing cold it was difficult to remember why he was working. Difficult to stay motivated

Pushing six shopping carts was hard, since the snow was coming down thick and the ground was icy in parts and snowy in others, they stuck and refused to budge. He could feel all of his muscles ache as he pushed harder and harder. School, the day before had been exhausting, all his teachers were having a go at him for the simple reason that he was falling behind. Admittedly he knew his grades hadn't really been great as of late, and it wasn't due to the fact the work was overly hard, just Kendall was so exhausted from hockey and work that school work tended to come second. With the Holiday season in full force it had been twice as hard for Kendall to stay completely on top. With him working all the nights he didn't have Hockey and working most of the weekends. It meant his homework could only been done in the early morning hours he had left.

This was his second winter on the job, as soon as he had turned the right age he'd gotten a job, but he couldn't remember the job being this hard the year before. Nor did he remember the weather being this bad. He dressed as warm as he could but there was really only so much that a hat, scarf and gloves could do. Snow was cold, and none of his clothing apart from his jacket was waterproof. After about three hours after arriving the boy had begun to get very cold. Thankfully he was meant to take breaks every five hours, it was unpaid so Kendall tended to only take about ten minutes, with his break he tended to get as warm as he possibly could before heading back out.

The signs of exhaustion were clear on Kendall. People who hadn't noticed weren't looking right. Carlos, James and Logan had all seen it. Kendall was slightly snappier, he tended to fall asleep in class and they'd all noticed the way Kendall wasn't doing as well in classes. However none of them had to worry about having enough money. Logan's mom was in real estate which had a good amount of money coming in, James' mom was CEO of the family cosmetics business, and Carlos' dad worked for the police. They didn't have jobs, they didn't need them.

They'd all seen the small changes to Kendall recently, seen the way Kendall moved more slowly, that the smile didn't reach his eyes as often as it should. That he was working so much, that juggling school, hockey, and his own health was clearly becoming a challenge. He barely slept and he barely found time to eat. It was safe to say that all his friends were worried about him. A lot more than Kendall was actually aware.

The shopping carts halted completely as the snow became too thick, he was about twenty centimeters away from being done with the set of shopping carts so he was pretty certain that nothing could be more frustrating in that moment. He stood up straight and let out a small angry breath. He couldn't deal with this. Not today. He was too tired, too frustrated. He just wanted to go home and be with his friends and little sister. In that moment he really just wanted to punch something. Someone, anything. But with no one in sight, and a slowly emptying supermarket parking lot he didn't. Instead he just let out a long sigh, and with one forceable push, pushed the carts as hard as he possibly could. This caused all six to rush forward and crash into place. It also caused Kendall to be put off balance. He slipped on a bit of ice and fell to the floor. Thankful his reactions were quick enough that he was able to use his hands to break the fall.

"Kendall. Kendall!" A voice sounded in the distance. With Kendall lying face down in the snow he couldn't quite make out the voice, but he was quick to push himself up and on to his feet. He didn't bother looking to see where the voice had come from instead he began to brush off all the snow that had appeared on his clothing due to the fall.

"Hey buddy, you all right?" Kendall glanced up at the voice. Logan. Even with the terrible day Kendall was suffering through, seeing his friend made him smile. He gave a quick nod. From what he could tell he was fine. Still sore from Hockey and working all day but Logan wasn't really asking that. Kendall looked at his friend, he was meant to be staying with Katie for the day, since both Kendall and his mom were working.

"I'm fine, is Katie with you?" Kendall asked glancing around but not spotting the brown eyed girl that Kendall always did anything for.

"You sure? She's with James and Carlos at your house, they wanted me to go get a movie, from the store, and to see how you were doing. Seeing as it's snowing and like minus three degrees." Logan knew he probably wasn't going to get a straight answer from Kendall, he'd really only been sent out for the movie by Katie. But as soon as Logan had seen the snow fall even harder he'd been worried about the friend who was out in it. After sharing his sentiments with Carlos and James, they'd all come to the conclusion that they needed to at least know how he was doing. Logan felt somewhat right about his concerns as soon as he spotted Kendall. He hadn't seen the fall coming, but as he stared at the face of one of his best friends he could see that it probably wasn't the first fall of the day and he was sure it wouldn't be the last.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What movie did you pick out?" Kendall asked, avoiding the question of his well being appreciating the thought, but he didn't want to have to lie to his best friend. Kendall didn't like doing such a thing especially if they just wanted to know how he was. He just couldn't say that he wasn't. He had to be the leader, the strong one. He had to be the one to keep the others going. He had to be he one that knew no fury. That never backed down and always did the best he could no matter the situation. Even if it meant working twice as hard as all the others then so be it.

"Bridge to Terabithia." Logan said in a tone that said he wasn't too happy about the movie choice. "Your sister's choice not ours. I should probably get going man"

"Yeah, and I should get back to work." Kendall nodded in agreement. He would basically anything to be able to go home with Logan and watch the movie with them. Be with his friends and with his sister, watch a movie and be completely warm. "Thanks for looking after Katie."

"No problem, you sure you're okay, man? That looked like a nasty fall?" Logan asked again, but when he noticed Kendall nodding to say he was okay. Logan just smiled and gave his friend a small hug before turning and walking away. Leaving a cold Kendall standing alone in the car park. He sighed to himself before setting off where he could see more shopping carts for him to push into the right place. Getting back to the long boring work that was what he got paid to do.

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><p>Finally time for his break Kendall Knight pushed the last shopping cart into the right place and headed back to the store. He wouldn't take a long break, but seeing as he'd been working non stop since about midday, he thought he was entitled to at least a little warmth. The warmth the inside of a supermarket could provide. He had managed to fall over a few more times outside, but he was at least thankful that the snow had stopped.<p>

Kendall stepped into the staff room and took a seat right next to the radiator. He didn't have long left in his shift, another three hours and then he'd be able to go home. So all he had to do at this point was get warm, to be able to face the next three hours, which was easier said than done. He pulled off his hat and placed it on the heater with his gloves and scarf. It was occurring to him now that it would perhaps be beneficial to him to start bringing more than one set of gloves, scarves and hats.

Pulled off his outdoor jacket, Kendall let himself sit next to the radiator, and let his mind drift. It wasn't going to be easy the last part of his shift. He had almost no energy left. He could barely keep his eyes open and the temperature was getting lower and lower as it got later and later. Even with his gloves Kendall was having trouble keeping his hands warm. It was safe to say that he would be pretty thankful when he finally got home. It would be the ray of light from a long and boring day.

The boy's stomach grumbled loudly as Kendall prepared to go back out to the face the snow. He wanted to quit so bad but he couldn't, he worked for a reason and he couldn't give up. He sighed as he pulled his still slightly damp gloves on, getting redressed in his warm clothing and heading outside. It was moments like that, that made Kendall wish he could just leave. Go somewhere warm with sunshine and a pool he could fall in love with. But as much as he wished for that, it was never going to happen and he just had to get used to the cold.

The cold air hit his face almost immediately as he stepped out into the parking lot. He knew that if he just kept working, and kept himself busy that it would be over soon. That he could just go home. Sit on the sofa and relax. Having something to eat and spend time with his sister. He just had to get through this. He'd done it before, it would be fine.

After another fairly spectacular fall in the snow, after pushing a shopping cart into the right area. The snow began to fall in a much more blizzard manner. He was heading to find another shopping cart when he noticed his manager calling him over. Fearing that it was maybe about something he'd done wrong, Kendall was a little wary. He couldn't remember doing anything wrong, he hadn't for a while, while working in this kind of weather his friends tended to not visit so the likelihood of him getting into trouble was small.

"Kendall, go home." His manager said as soon as Kendall was close enough to hear. At first Kendall was sure this meant he was fired, and he'd been about to ask what he'd done wrong when his manager spoke again. "You're not fired, It's just snowing really hard, and you've been at this all day. Go home, get some rest, I'll see you in the morning. And don't worry you'll be paid for the hours you didn't do. Now, go home" Kendall had always gotten along well with the store manager. Which was why he'd even do such a thing, that and Kendall was the youngest person working at the store.

Thanking the store manager, Kendall rushed inside to grab his belongings. He could hardly believe his luck. He was getting to go home, a whole two hours earlier than planned. At this point the boy was pretty sure that a miracle had happened. It didn't matter what had happened, all he knew was that he would be home a lot earlier than he'd planned to be, which would mean he could maybe spend a little time with his friends. He grabbed his rucksack and headed out the store.

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><p>Walking home was a trek and a half, but after the bus he took only took him half way he was walking as fast as he could under the conditions that he was faced with. Walking a lot quicker since he really just wanted to be home. The snow falling like in a blizzard, the icy cold winds. The frozen ground and the growing darkness. He didn't even care at this point about any of those things since he was heading home. As soon as his house came into sight, the teen broke into the fastest run that he could. Ignoring the exhaustion, stiffness, pain and cold he felt. He fumbled with the key in the lock before letting himself into the house and closing the door behind him.<p>

The warmth of the Knight household washed over him in one quick motion. He leaned against the door, letting himself regain his breath as he began to pull off his hat, scarf and gloves. Putting all of them next to the door, ready and waiting for work the next day. He pulled off his bag and coat, hanging up his coat, before taking the bag and heading into the main room of the house. He spotted his three friends and Katie sitting watching the movie Logan had bought for them to watch. They were all so into the movie that they hadn't even heard Kendall enter the house.

A smile that reached the green eyes of the boy erupted on his face. This was utter perfection. He was happy that his family were all doing okay. That they were warm, comfortable and relaxed. It reminded him why he worked. Why he went through what he did. He did however notice Logan's glances out the window every few minutes. This too made him smile.

"And here I thought Katie was the only one who liked this movie" Kendall said, giving all the people in the room a rather big shock. Katie jumped, Carlos jumped throwing the popcorn everywhere, James and Logan just jumped to their feet.

"Kendall!" All four yelled, smiling happily at their returned friend. He gave them all a warm smile and watched as Katie walked over and gave him a hug. So glad to see his little sister he lifted her off the ground and gave her a tight hug. He really did do all of it more for her than anyone else. Seeing her happy was what kept him going during the hard months of work.

"What are you doing home so early?" James asked clearly surprised at his friend's early return, although also clearly pleased.

"Yeah, you didn't get fired did you?" Carlos added, hoping that their antics had not resulted in his hard working friend losing his job.

"No, the shop manager just decided to send me home, it was snowing a lot, and I think he saw me fall over a couple of times, and decided it would be better to send me home than I accidentally get hurt on his watch" Kendall said, not meeting the worried glances he was getting from all his friends. Logan had of course immediately told the others of the fact that Kendall had fallen, and that he looked exhausted. Now with him in front of them, they could see it.

"You still working tomorrow big brother?" Katie asked, Kendall could clearly see the hope in her eyes that he wasn't, but he shook his head. He knew that it would mean another day that she couldn't spend with him, but he was just glad to be there now. "You gonna watch the rest of the movie with us?"

"Well, I need to go put my stuff in my room, and see how much school work I have then we'll see, Okay baby sister?" Kendall said, knowing that while it was good to be home so early it didn't mean his work was done. He put Katie back on the ground and watched as she muttered something about food and headed to the kitchen. It was then that his three friends walked over to him.

"You guys can head home now if you want to. But, I wouldn't suggest it, that snow is crazy" Kendall said, more or less hoping his friends could stay. As much as he knew he could handle Katie alone, after the kind of day he'd had he didn't want to. He was too exhausted to be the perfect superhero Kendall that he believed Katie needed him to be.

"We've already called our parents to say we're staying the night" Logan answered. Kendall smiled at his friends. He was thankful he had such good friends, they always knew when he needed them even if he didn't say it. He was unaware that it had been as soon as Logan had gotten back that he'd said they should stay the night, mostly to make sure Kendall slept at least a little. Kendall didn't care what the reasoning really was, he was just glad they were staying. He nodded his thanks and then headed to his room.

Kendall dumped the bag on the ground next to his hockey stuff from the day before. He glanced around his room, his unmade bed and his desk which had school work piled high. It wasn't like he spent much time in his room anyway. It was cold and lonely. He gave a long sigh as he took a seat on his bed. He pulled off his thick jumper, followed by the second, followed by the short sleeved t-shirt and then the long sleeved t-shirt. Until he was just sitting in his trousers. He took a new short sleeved t-shirt and pulled it on. He grabbed all the school work he could from his desk, along with writing materials and headed back to the living room.

It didn't take long for his friends to watch him take all the books and place them on the desk in the main room, where they were all waiting for Kendall to return from his room. Kendall looked over at them and shrugged. It wasn't like it was too noticeable, but he had a small amount of bruises from the amount of falling he'd done over the course of the day. It was the first time in a while that Logan, Carlos and James saw the full extent of how much Kendall was running himself into the ground. It was clear in his movements, his eyes, his entire stance that this was turning out to be a difficult month for Kendall.

"It's not going to do itself." He offered as an explanation. Shrugging to the books and then sitting down at the table. As he did so, Katie re-entered the room with a small sandwich. It wasn't very well done, but when she handed it to Kendall he gladly took it thanked her and then took a large bite. He then looked over to his sister, and his friends as they all watched him eat. Something he didn't like happening "What?" He asked with a bite full of sandwich in his mouth.

"Kendall you forgot to have breakfast this morning and forgot to take lunch. Again." Katie asked, clearly annoyed at Kendall. Kendall finished what he was chewing on and swallowed. He didn't think she'd been studying him that closely. Much less his eating habits. Kendall was always forgetting to eat. But this morning it was less forgetting and more that he'd slept later than planned and ended up not having time.

"Kendall?" Logan asked, his tone telling Kendall that they were all waiting for a response. Logan knew they had to do something to help him.

"Something like that." Kendall muttered, not offering much more of an explanation. He took another bite and then opened the first book and task he had to complete. History. The words seemed to blur slightly. He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus more on the book in front of him. It wasn't really working for him, but he was trying. Slowly he picked up his pen and began working. "Just go back to the movie, and I'll get through as much of this as I possibly can." Reluctantly the three boys and Katie returned to the movie.

Almost an hour later, and Katie was ready to go to bed. It was still early but she'd done a lot during the day snow was fairly fun and with the fact that Kendall was already home she had no reason to stay up late. While the three boys argued over what to watch next, Katie got to her feet and walked to Kendall who was hidden under a large pile of books. It was then she noticed that he was asleep. She knew it would be terrible to wake him, but she didn't want to be put to bed by any of the others. Just her brother, he knew the right thing to do and say. He knew what to sing to make her drift off.

Kendall had begun drifting off to sleep shortly after the boy in the movie had pushed his sister down on to the ground. One thing he thought was hugely stupid and silly for a brother to do to his little sister, no matter how annoying she could be. It was up to the older brother to protect the younger sibling. He would always do that. He jolted awake as someone spoke into his ear. His head shot up narrowly missing Katie's head. He smiled sleepily at her as she said that she was going to bed. He nodded and said he'd be there in a minute.

Watching his baby sister walk away, Kendall rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't believe he'd fallen asleep, the only thing he was pleased about was he'd moved onto the maths work he needed to do. Which was a lot simpler than anything else that he had. Getting to his feet, Kendall slowly walked to his sister's room. Whenever their mother was working late, he would put Katie to bed, sing her song and tell her that mom would be home soon and she'd give her kiss when she did. It was tradition, it was one of the reasons, Kendall and Katie were so close. Once he had finished singing he leaned into Katie and kissed her on the head.

"Kendall?" Katie asked in the tone she used when she wanted to be serious.

"Yeah, baby sister?" Kendall replied looking at her curiously wondering what she would want to say to him. "What is it?"

"Are you okay? The guys are worried about you. They keep saying you work too much. Do you?" Katie asked. And while the questions were just innocent of a soon to be ten year old girl, he knew that she was actually serious. That she was worried about him too. And he hated that he'd been the cause of her worry.

"I'm fine baby sister. I don't work too much. Its just been very busy right now. That's all" Kendall replied with a small smile. "Don't you worry about me, okay?" And with that he left Katie. Switching off the light and heading back to the living room, where all three of his friends were now sitting around the table where all his work was. He looked at them, and had a puzzled expression on his face. He had no idea what they were doing but from what he could tell, it wasn't good.

"Kendall, sit." Carlos said, clearly not as comfortable with the whole set up as everyone else.

"Okay, what is going on guys?" Kendall said as he took a seat. He didn't think they quite got that Kendall just wanted to enjoy being at home with his best buds. He might have a mound of work to do, but he couldn't exactly just leave it, at least he'd gotten a little extra time to get it done. He was still happy, he was home, warm and surrounded by those he cared about and would do anything for.

"We're worried Kendall. I mean how many days this week alone have you worked?" Logan started. Staring at Kendall straight in the face, and wondering if this was a good idea. It was clear their friend was exhausted. Beyond exhausted. Now or never.

"Yeah, and of those days that you weren't working what were you doing?" James added, nodding slightly and keep his gaze on his friends face. "And, by the way Kendall, you look awful."

"Well, last Saturday, I was working all day, same with Sunday, then Monday we had hockey, and Tuesday too. Wednesday and Thursday I was working, and yesterday we had that game and today I was working. So, 5 days working, not including tomorrow, and Hockey the rest of the days." Kendall said, knowing better than to lie to his three closest friends while they sat right in front of him. However his tone was one of not really caring, like it didn't matter in the slightest. "And I look fine" Kendall added, knowing that was really a pointless lie to tell, when it was pretty clear they thought differently.

"When was the last time you took a break? Like had a day where you did nothing. No work, no hockey" Carlos asked, clearly shocked by the fact that his friend was working so hard. He knew that he had been doing a lot recently, but he wondered how long it had been going on for.

"And you don't look fine, you have bags under you eyes, your pale and you've lost weight." James concluded, slightly frustrated at the fact that Kendall was acting like it was nothing. Like it was just as if they were asking him what the days of the week actually were.

"And how many times did you fall over today?" Logan added quickly. Kendall however had had enough of these questions. He didn't care that his friends were concerned, he had work to do. They had probably all already done it, but he just needed it do, have it finished sometime soon so he could go to bed. So, he was going to chose to not answer any of the questions.

"Guys, I'm fine. Stop worrying about me, and If you don't mind, I have to get this done, if not I'm going to fail. And I do have work tomorrow, so I need at least a few hours of sleep. Just go watch tv or something." Kendall said, his voice still steady and calm, a lot calmer than he actually felt. He didn't bother looking back up at his friends, he felt there eyes on his, but ignored it. Slowly they got up and went back to watching tv. Knowing it was probably best just to leave their leader to continue the work he had to complete.

When after an hour passed soft snoring filled the room. Carlos was the first to hear it, he looked to Logan and James who clearly weren't asleep. He got to his feet and went over to where Kendall was meant working. The leader was sound asleep, pen in mouth head on a book. Even though Kendall would have so much work to do when he got up Carlos was glad he'd fallen asleep. It hadn't sat well with him at all seeing Kendall so tired, so completely worn out. But instead of going back to sit with Logan and James, he took one of the homework tasks Kendall had to complete and began working. It wasn't until a full ten minutes later that the others realised what he was doing.

"Carlos, are you doing Kendall's homework?" Logan's voice was quiet. He had become aware that Kendall was asleep as he'd noticed Carlos sitting with Kendall. Carlos just nodded as Logan took a seat, with James following suit just after.

"Well, it's not like he can do it." Carlos just said, continuing to work away. He'd already done most of the work in the exercise, so it was a matter of remembering and making small differences so the teachers wouldn't be suspicious. "Logie, do you think he'll be okay?"

"I hope so." Logan said shrugging slightly. It had been a difficult month and a half for Kendall. He'd started working a lot harder than normal. In Hockey and at work. Taking more shifts and very quickly being the guy that had no personal time. "I don't know the last time he had a weekend off. Or a day off. As soon as the holiday season is over, he'll go back to what it was before."

"Not that it was or is much better" James muttered. While Kendall had taken a lot more shifts than normal lately, but in the months where there was less Kendall still worked a lot harder than most his age would. He felt as though they were losing him. That his need to provide for his family was meaning he had no time for them. "What do we do?" James looked to Logan.

"I don't know. I mean I hadn't even known how bad it really was until today. I mean look at him. He's never been this thin, or tired or this pale. Or this far behind the work Carlos is currently doing I remember doing weeks ago." Logan was maybe the brains of the group but Kendall always had the plan. Like when James was being bullied, it had been Logan who'd said they needed to do something, but Kendall had been the one to come up with a plan. Although the plan had just been beat the hell out of the guys, it was still a Kendall plan. They needed one now, but this was the first time they needed a Kendall plan for Kendall. It just helped prove to them, that while to almost all three Kendall was a hero, a brother, he was still human.

"We help him with his homework, make sure he takes something to eat for work, make sure he gets enough sleep, keep him company when he's working if we can. Be there for him like he is for us" Carlos said. Kendall had given him help on countless occasions. Kendall might have been the youngest of them but he was always helping everyone else out. "We just have to do what Kendall would do for any of us in this sort of situation"

"Carlos is completely right. We're agreed? Keep Kendall going plan is on." Logan said wondering when Carlos had gotten so insightful on such a topic.

"Agreed" said James and Carlos in unison and with that, the three boys began working through Kendall's homework as he caught up on some much needed shut eye. Kendall Knight worked to help keep his family going as strong as it was, Carlos, Logan and James worked to help Kendall keep going to be sure he could help his family. Because to them Kendall was their brother, family. And that's what family does.

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><p>AN: And that's that! I don't know if I'll do a second part, tell if you think I should and ideas as to what I could do. Thanks! for reading.


	2. Superhero Kendall Returns

A/N :Heyy, Merry Christmas to all those celebrating it. I know that I said this was complete in the last chapter, but I had an idea of how to make it a two-shot story. I'll be honest, I'm not sure how good it is. It's also quite a bit longer than I first planned it to be But, I thought I may as well. Review if you like it, and if you want request a story, I'm open to ideas/prompts/requests. Thanks!

Timeline: Let say at some point after the Jo/Kendall break up.

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><p>Waking up first thing in the morning was never something most enjoyed happening. The Palmwoods was the kind of place that didn't really wake up until about ten in the morning, and even that was the earliest. Logan had found a small joy in the fact he could sleep late close to everyday at the Palmwoods and no one said a thing about it. However it was Monday and Logan and the others did actually have to be in the studio very soon. Logan was sure of it, as the smart one he'd ensure of it. Slowly opening his eyes, the teen glanced to the clock beside his bed, groaning lightly as he noticed the time. It was too early and he'd gone to sleep too late.<p>

Big Time Rush lived in the one apartment, but it had four bedrooms, one for Mama Knight, one for Katie Knight, one that Carlos and James shared, and then the room Logan shared with Kendall. It wasn't something new. Or something he didn't like, in fact Logan was glad to be sharing a room with one of his closest friends. They'd shared rooms before, and since he was an only child he was happy for the constant company that his roommate provided.

It was very clear that the room belonged to Logan and Kendall, much like Carlos and James' room did. It was very them, as Mrs. Knight liked to say. Logan had medical journals piled high, and Kendall had hockey books and equipment everywhere on his side of the room. Overall the room was spacious and kept fairly tidy, Logan's side anyway, Kendall's not as much and even less so right now.

However, as Logan sat up in his bed and looked over to his roommate's bed he noticed it was in fact empty. To add to this, Logan didn't even look as though it had been slept in, it was perfectly made and there wasn't the usual "Kendall mess" surrounding it. Logan cast his mind back trying to see if he remembered hearing Kendall go to bed, however Logan was a pretty heavy sleeper so even if Kendall had gone to bed, he wouldn't have been woken up by it. However the fact that his friend mightn't have gone to bed didn't surprise him too much. It wasn't the first time it had happened since coming to California. And it was hardly surprising considering the past few days the boys of Big Time Rush had been having.

It had pretty much been the worst four days they'd had since coming to Los Angeles. It had all started late thursday evening with one terrible phone call which had lead to Mrs. Knight leaving early on the Friday morning for Minnesota. The outcome for that looked pretty bleak. The cousin to Mrs. knight had pretty much been sick all her life, but had taken a turn for the worse. Logan couldn't help but feel annoyed that another bad thing was happening to the amazing family of three known as the Knights. It had broken his, Carlos and James' heart slightly, watching their friend, Kendall take the news, yet another death in the family. For a brief moment they had seen their leader on the very verge of not keeping it together but as fleeting as it had come it had gone. As always Kendall the least likely to ever break down out of the four of them.

However the day and the rest of the weekend had gotten steadily worse from there. Katie had woken up on the Friday morning, very clearly under the weather, which had left Kendall in a panic. The resident doctor-to-be, Logan had quickly deduced that it was nothing more than a bad flu, and with bed rest, medicine and a bit of calm she'd be better in a matter of days. It was nothing that Kendall had to worry too much over. Sure they all had to make sure it didn't worse, but Logan knew it would have to get worse before it got better, which it did.

Logan, Carlos and James had pretty much expected what happened next. It had in no way been a surprise, since it happened every time someone got sick. Kendall went from being a normal big brother, to Superhero brother, a guy who would move mountains if he had to. A guy who would happily hand over his soul to see the person better. Disregarding personal health, hygiene or work commitments. It had been odd for Logan, as well as the others to see Kendall like that again. All three boys had noted they hadn't seen that side of Kendall since before becoming a band and moving to California to be famous. Since coming to Hollywood, they lived at a hotel with plenty of people that would help them out. Their record company covered most costs, the work his mother did was scarce. She was home, so it wasn't up to Kendall to be the one to ensure everything was in place. It was a very sudden reminder to Logan that unlike them, Kendall was the most adult of them all.

Ever since his father had died when Katie had been under a year old Kendall had grown up at twice the rate of the rest of them. Sure, in school he was still Kendall, the boy who was always getting into trouble. The coolest and most popular kid. The one who stood up for anyone being picked on. The very youngest team captain of the ice hockey team. When he got home, Kendall was the best brother he could be to his sister, and the best helper to his mother. It didn't always work out, Kendall had always been a child first, and even the best of children weren't perfectly behaved all the time. Most of the residents of the Palmwoods would never know of the Kendall that was most mature of all of them. To them it was a normality. However seeing that Kendall here had reminded Logan of the fact that Kendall had never really had it easy.

Realisation struck that his unofficial brother was probably bored and exhausted, Logan dragged himself out of bed. Still not happy at the hour, but knowing if it were him, he'd ignore his own sleep to help. It was time to return the favour. The teen walked tiredly from his bedroom, yawning and stretching as he walked. His feet dragging slightly, and his eyes closed tightly as they adjust the new amount of light that the corridor had. He stopped walking as soon as Kendall was in his line of view. He felt his heart sink at the sight of one of his closest friends. Kendall was a sight. His blonde hair was sticking out at all ends, his clothes rumbled, dirty and lived in. He had a very tired look about him, one that Logan hated seeing, and one he'd seen too many times. It was the look that said he could collapse due exhaustion at any point. What Logan didn't expect - but was also not surprised - to see was James already sitting at the counter talking quietly to Kendall, as Kendall was cleaning the dishes from the previous night.

Logan wondered what they could be talking about since James was making large gestures, clearly explaining something to the exhausted blonde, Logan had to admit he was interested. It was James was doing most of the talking from what he could see, Kendall did just seem happy with the company. He smiled every so often, gave light short laughs when James did and added little words to the conversation, but it really was James carrying the entire conversation. It wasn't the first time he'd seen James do such a thing. They had all managed the art of keeping a person's mind off something they didn't want to talk about. James was just the best at it.

It had always appeared to Logan that people just assumed that all James carried about was his appearance it was a pretty big part of he was but James also cared about his friends, a lot. A lot more than he would ever actually say. He would like any of them do absolutely anything for the other. It wasn't something that people saw that side of James, the side of him that was sitting at the table with Kendall. After all it was the side of James that really only the people who actually lived in apartment 2J really knew about,. It wasn't something James had ever thought important enough to show unless someone needed it, not to mention it was always fairly subtle. It would be hours later generally that Logan realised that James had made his day better by being the caring side of himself. It was why they all knew that when it came to talking your mind off something James was the best.

Smiling to himself, Logan realised that his friends were really the best possible friends any person could ask for. He knew he'd never ever want to replace them. Not even if he was offered all the money in the world. Which was why Big Time Reality had over all been something everyone was pretty keen to forget. Logan took a small breath, smiled and then stepped into the main room. As soon as he stepped into view Logan received the usual greetings from James who said Logan looked a state and a very small brief smile from Kendall - which wasn't the usual greeting. Logan didn't even bother acknowledging what James had said, instead he let his gaze settle upon his tall green eyed friend who was suddenly very interested in the dishes he was washing. Clearly Kendall realised that unlike James, at this point Logan was going to be questioning him. He knew neither Carlos or James would approve but someone had to at least try.

"Hows Katie doing?" Logan asked taking a seat next to James, he wondered if James had bothered to ask how the youngest Knight was doing, since he'd clearly just been there to make him feel better. Logan assumed not. But then it was James' way of improving someone's mood and Logan was completely okay with that.

"Better, only woke up three times during the night, which is an improvement, she was however sick each time which is never good. The first time was all over the bathroom floor, she had tried to get there herself while I was tidying my mom's room, what a mess. I've tidied it up, but the smell hasn't quite gone yet" Kendall replied putting away another handful of dishes, he'd piled beside him as he cleaned and dried. It was surprising to James that they had gone through so many dishes. He assumed that most of them were Kendall's attempts to get Katie to eat something. It didn't really explain all the plates, since Kendall had also barely eaten. Either that or James just figured that he'd never really payed that much attention when Mama Knight washed up.

"Dude, why don't you just use the dishwasher like normal people?" James' question slipped out before he could stop it. James had been up for a little while now, despite the fact it was six-thirty in the morning. Mainly because it had just come to a point where he'd awoken and been unable to sleep. Unlike Logan, James wasn't that heavy a sleeper, he did however sleep a lot, but it was hard for him to sleep when one of his best friends was looking after his sick little sister. James was pretty sure he already knew the answer to his question it wasn't the first time any of them had stumbled upon a Knight washing dishes by hand despite the dishwasher they stood in front of, but it had slipped out.

"It's therapeutic. Plus, my mom and I always used to do it together back in Minnesota, I think you also forget that whenever my mom worked I had to take care of Katie, and that meant dinner, I didn't know how to work a dishwasher so I had to do them by hand" Kendall answered without looking up from the plate he had been currently cleaning. It annoyed both James and Logan hearing Kendall reply such a question with an answer in a tone of voice as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Like it was completely normal for a young boy who would've been about eight or nine the first time they'd been left alone with a young child to feed and clean up after.

"That's good, that Katie is doing better." Carlos said appearing at the other end of the room, wearing his helmet and yawning loudly. James was the only one of the four boys who knew for sure that Carlos didn't actually sleep in the thing. Maybe the odd night here and there but not every night. He just put it on in the morning. No one had known when Carlos had come into the room, but Logan assumed it was much like how he had done mere moments before.

It was James who first noticed that Kendall looked annoyed, that he looked more annoyed at himself than anyone else. It was clear he didn't like being the reason that none of them had managed to sleep in late, or even to a slightly more reasonable time. He tended to forget that Katie was as much their sister as she was to Kendall. Not often but on mornings following weekends like the one that had passed, it tended to slip his mind.

"I'm sorry I woke all of you up. I didn't mean to. It's been over three days, you guys should go back to bed and catch up on lost sleep. My mom will not be pleased with me if you all end up having a serious lack of sleep on my watch." Kendall said in a slightly apologetic tone. Finishing off washing the last of the glasses and beginning to dry them, watching as Carlos took the seat next to Logan. Carlos, Logan and James shared a look, they didn't know what to say to Kendall. It was pretty clear that their blonde friend was the most tired of all of them. Logan half thought that Kendall hadn't slept at all the past few days. James couldn't believe that he was apologising, and Carlos was taken aback that Kendall was worried about Mama Knight giving him into trouble for them. None of them cold understand why Kendall would say something like that.

"We will, when you do." Logan said, his two friends on either side of him nodding too. They were friends, and this was a time when friends were really very necessary. It also appeared to be the only thing that they could say about it, and none of the three really wanted to address the issue of Mama Knight.

From the distant bedroom, there was a small call of Kendall's name. Kendall put the glass down and then left the room. Without another word to his friends, he just headed straight to Katie's room, knowing that she was calling for him, and that he really needed to be there for her more than his three closest friends needed him. The three other boys were left sitting at the kitchen counter watching silently as the youngest of the four walked back to his sister's room. For more brother duties that Katie needed him for. It showed the true strength of Kendall, that despite his lack of sleep he would still keep going until he literally couldn't anymore.

"I think we should definitely try harder in the Keep Kendall going plan. It's been three days, Kendall has barely eaten, barely slept and hasn't hung out with us for longer than however long lunch, breakfast and dinner are." James said sighing. It was hard to keep focused on the singing, the dancing and enjoying the pool when the unofficial leader of the group had dropped absolutely everything to look after his sister. It was a trait the boys had somewhat forgotten about since coming to Hollywood. When they had been back in Minnesota, if Katie had gotten sick and Mama Knight had been unable to watch her it would be left to Kendall, and that was literally the only reason he would ever use any of his paid holidays. He would keep his holidays and use them only when Katie, Mama Knight or any of them was sick. Here, they didn't have to bother with that at all so they'd forgotten what it was like. Logan figured it was also the stress of losing another family that had made Kendall completely revert back to his Minnesota ways.

"It's going fine James. There isn't much else we can do." Logan said sighing slightly. Knowing that it really was true that they could do nothing else without the plan being found out by Kendall, the whole idea of the plan was for him to not know what they were doing at all.

"I know. I know. I just didn't think we'd ever need the plan here. You know" James nodded. James had been the first to note the distinct change in Kendall as soon as his sister had been declared sick. It reminded him of the boy who'd work in snow, ice and hale all so there would be extra money in the family. The boy who'd spent four plus weeks working non stop, that winter before they'd moved. Where the smile of the blonde didn't reach the eyes due to the exhaustion that had been clearly evident with each passing day.

"I think we all forgot that Kendall was an adult half the time in Minnesota. Kendall was still as immature as us, up until his mom needed him to not be. Here he doesn't need to adult Kendall at all. Well, not until now." Carlos added, agreeing with James. He loved how Kendall was very family orientated. How he would do anything for them and how it was the same with his friends, after all they were in Hollywood because it had been clear they would've gone. But Carlos (and the others) hated with a deep passion that Kendall always took care of himself last. As if he didn't matter as much as everyone else. If he didn't put himself last, Carlos was sure they would've never needed to create a Keep Kendall going plan in the first place.

"It's superhero Kendall." Logan muttered, and the two beside him nodded.

All three began to get breakfast for themselves and Kendall. While also wondering how on earth to explain to Gustavo and Kelly why Kendall would not be joining them that day. As much as it would be a long day for them, they knew it would be just a long for their friend.

* * *

><p>Unlike Minnesota the weather outside in L.A. was almost always sunny. It was warm and the air tended to be pretty humid. It wasn't always the best, but it beat the cold of Minnesota. What the boy had had to put up with before every single day. But it meant as three of the four boys of Big Time Rush stood outside the famous Palmwoods hotel they all needed to wear sunglasses. Today more than ever, since none of them had slept an awful lot over the past few days and they didn't want to appear too tired to the rest of the residents.<p>

Arriving and getting to the studio was the easiest part of the teens day. It had been getting all the members to go to work on that day that had been hard, and it was pretty clear that they'd lost. Carlos, James and Logan had all tried to persuade Kendall to come to work with them, but he had sharply told them no, before getting something together for Katie. With only three members currently walking into Rocque Records that very morning they were pretty much certain that there would be yelling, chair throwing and overall anger at the loss of another day. Since out of the goodness of his heart, and after a face off between Kendall and Gustavo, Gustavo had let the boys have Friday off. After all a family member of Kendall's was dying and the match off with Gustavo had been the only admission from the teen that something was wrong the entire time since it had happened. The only admission that he maybe wasn't handling it as well as he said and portrayed that he was. But this time, only James, Logan and Carlos were actually turning up at Rocque Rocks and all three were scared of what was to come.

Kelly, the assistant to Gustavo was standing in the main area of the studio waiting for the boys or dogs to appear. She had expected to see all four of the boys bounce in with their usual smiles and readiness to get to work. A readiness that was gone after about ten minutes into an intense dance or harmony session. What she didn't expect to see were only three boys, all of whom looked pretty much exhausted. She closed here eyes and reopened them, really hoping she was dreaming, but Kelly wasn't. She realised only three boys would be there that day. Her mind was buzzing trying to put together what exactly was going on. She really hoped she could quickly get to the bottom of this before Gustavo appeared and noticed the lack of a fourth dog.

"Guys! Where is Kendall?" Kelly said, the urgency clear in her voice. She was waiting for him to pop up and scare her, or to come running in claiming to have slept in late, but she could tell straight away from the way the boys held themselves that neither was going to happen. Logan, Carlos and James had expected the question. Of course they would ask. After all it was Kendall that they'd wanted in the first place. He had been the one with the fire. Big Time Rush was so much more than that now, but it was what they got from her tone of voice. Even though Kelly was really only just concerned about Kendall.

"DOGS!" Gustavo yelled as he walked out his office, just as Carlos had been about to explain to Kelly where the blonde teen was. He looked at the three boys and then to Kelly. He was clearly doing a good job at appearing calm, because all the boys were half expecting an earthquake or steam out the ears, but nothing, just yelling at the very top of his voice "Where. Is. KENDALL?"

"Katie's sick" Carlos blurted out, before taking a step back. Generally if this ever happened, as brave as he knew he could be he tended to cower slightly behind Kendall. It wasn't that he was afraid, just more that he had no idea how to handle Gustavo when he was angry therefore he chose to not. Let Kendall do all of that since he could do it a lot better than the rest of them.

"And?" Gustavo yelled, elongating the word as he yelled it at the boys. It was bad enough in his eyes that they'd lost the Friday, he just didn't expect them to be down a member because one of the dog's sister was sick. He expected them to just get someone else to look after her. Kelly was in the same line of thought as her boss. She didn't understand why four smart and friendly boys like them couldn't find someone to cover for them. Although the fact that the youngest Knight was sick explained the overall tiredness of the group.

"Yeah, what has that got to do with Kendall not being here? Could you guys not just get someone to look after her for you today." Kelly asked, in a much softer and nicer tone than Gustavo, but still clear that she was very interested in why. The three boys exchanged a glance unsure as to how to approach the subject. It wasn't like they could just tell them everything, James and Carlos were both pretty certain that they'd think it stupid and Logan was pretty sure that they'd want them to drag Kendall there. Even if everyone knew in the room that it wouldn't work. People knew that trying to get a Knight to back down was not an easy or generally possible thing to do.

"Kendall doesn't trust anyone else with Katie while she's sick. It's been like that since Minnesota. Since she was born" Logan said. "It'll just be for today, and maybe tomorrow. Look, you guys might not think it's a good excuse but, we will not help you in dragging Kendall here." and with that said, the three boys nodded in unison.

"Fine. We'll just do a half day then. And not bother tomorrow. But he better be here on Wednesday or I am sending him back to Minnesota." Gustavo said, obviously not meaning what he said, but saying it forcefully all the same. So the dogs would think he meant it. Which they clearly did. As all three practically jumped over each other into the dance studio to learn their new dance. All three hoping desperately that Katie would get better very soon.

* * *

><p>By the time the three boys got back to the Palmwoods, they were all completely exhausted even more so than before. Too tired to even bother heading upstairs to get something to eat, they instead headed straight to the deck chairs by the pool. Sure all of them felt a little bad that they hadn't really thought about Kendall or Katie in the past few hours. Katie was like a sister to them all, and Kendall a brother, but with the lack of sleep over the weekend and Mr. X making them work twice as hard, all three couldn't find the extra energy. It was Carlos who felt the worse about not at least going to see how Kendall was doing. If Katie had gotten worse they were sure that Kendall, or someone would've called. But if something had happened to Kendall no one would know. But he couldn't do much else, Carlos like the other two was just too tired.<p>

Stretching out on the chairs, the three boys were asleep in minutes. It had been a very hard few days for everyone that lived in apartment 2J, and with the warm autumn sun shining down upon them, it was pretty obvious that they would've fallen asleep, and for once the only noise was that of people talking and playing in the pool. Not of a kid being sick, or yelling out to their friend. Or there friend whispering simple words to get it to stop. As much as they were surrounded by chaos, it was soothing to them.

They didn't realise that up in the apartment Kendall had set out lunch for them, since Logan had texted him about the half day he thought he'd do something nice for his friends. Once he'd gotten Katie back to sleep, he'd spent the rest of the morning, tiding and cleaning. Helping hide Tyler, and making lunch for him, his friends and his sister. When they didn't show, Kendall would never say but it had actually made him feel incredibly alone. When they never showed, he half considered calling, but he hardly wanted to worry them. Kendall just figured that they had gone out for lunch to avoid the house, or had fallen asleep somewhere. He did however leave out what he made for lunch just in case they turned up. He then continued to tidy up around the table, only to be stopped by the sounds of his sister coughing. Giving a small sigh, and hoping that he didn't collapse due to exhaustion yet, he headed to his sister's room.

* * *

><p>"What are you guys doing? Logan?" A voice said, a few hours after Logan, Carlos and James had fallen asleep poolside. Logan who'd been slowly waking up opened his eyes, to look up at the voice. Camille. Well, since he hadn't really spoken to her in the past few days and the way she was currently staring at him, he knew he was in a spot of bother. Sitting up, he looked over and saw that Carlos and James were also waking up.<p>

"Sleeping, that's what we were doing. Not any more though" Logan said rubbing his eyes and glancing at his watch. He spared a glance up towards where the apartment was, if they were that tired that they'd sleep that long, he hardly wanted to think about his friend who was up un the apartment. As the one who'd slept the least over the past few days, Logan knew that it wouldn't be too surprising if he had passed out. Looking round at his friends he knew they were all thinking the same thing and all secretly hoping, praying that Kendall was all right. Was still all right.

"Where have you guys been these past few days? No one has seen you, and where's Kendall, and Katie?" Camille had a lot of questions for the three boys she was staring at. She didn't understand where they'd been, or where the two Knights were. She'd not heard or seen any of them since Thursday and while she hadn't been hugely worried, it had annoyed her that no one had come to her. That no one had bothered to see if she wanted to know what was going on. Not to mention to Palmwoods was pretty boring without the four hockey players and Katie. However, she noticed the way the three boys glanced at each other, as if having a silent conversation about how to answer the questions. It made her all the more curious, and was a helpful reminder that the Big Time Rush boys really were like family to one another.

"Well, Mama Knight's cousin who's been sick for a while took a turn for the worse on Thursday night. She has about two weeks left." Carlos started. Knowing that when it came to friends like Camille they didn't have to avoid any details. She was after all also close friends with Kendall and Katie, as well as a on/off girlfriend to Logan.

"Me, Carlos and Logan all went to bed and Kendall stayed up with his mom, you know Kendall being Kendall. And his mom got a flight out early Friday. He drove her to the airport and was back by the time we were waking up." James continued. He wasn't sure if Camille quite knew what he meant by Kendall being Kendall. That Kendall wasn't really something that Kendall needed to be like in L.A. Apart from a few times with Katie or with Jo, but not lately. It was much more a Minnesota thing. Here he was still the one who almost always kept them on the right path being the leader, but it was the side of Kendall that was comforting and the shoulder to cry on, which they needed considerably less in L.A.

"So, we were having breakfast when all of sudden we hear Katie calling out for Kendall. Turns out, Katie has the flu. It's pretty bad but it's clearing up, she's getting better. So we spent most of the weekend helping Kendall look after Katie, but we technically had work today. Kendall as you can see, didn't go. He's upstairs with Katie" Logan concluded. Thinking they'd pretty much covered the entire basis. Camille had to admit she was fairly surprised that Kendall would be that dedicated to it. She would've happily watched over Katie for him. She knew how to handle sick children.

"Okay, so that explains everything but the fact that Kendall didn't just get someone else to look after Katie. Like me, or Buddha Bob." Camille countered taking a seat on the edge of Logan's deck lounger.

"That's just Kendall being Kendall." Logan said. He knew that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to really expand too much on it to Camille. It was hard to understand what the boys meant unless they'd seen Kendall in Minnesota. The guy he'd been there. But the three guys realised that they'd have to do some explaining considering Camille wouldn't take that as an answer most likely.

"Kendall doesn't like anyone else taking care of Katie when she's sick. He's protective of her, and he doesn't trust anyone apart from his mom with her. He trusts us too, but he'd never ask us for help." James explained. "Kendall doesn't like asking for help, ever. Especially not in matters regarding his family, which actually includes us. He'll happily get us to ask for help, but when it comes to asking for help for himself, he just won't. Not until the last moments"

"Back in Minnesota, during the winter months, well really from the end of October to January. Kendall would spend half the week working at the local supermarket, and the other half playing hockey, being the captain. Any spare time he did have was split between us and his family. He was happy, Kendall's a happy guy but it didn't always reach his eyes because of how exhausted he was sometimes. He was an adult in Minnesota." Carlos said, remembering the many times they'd looked after Katie while both Kendall and his mom worked. Or the times, that he would come home about four, and they'd all sit around as Kendall made dinner for Katie and worked on homework due weeks prior and of course play a lot of video games or indoor hockey which mama Knight hated really.

Camille felt instantly bad for ever having thought anything bad about the eldest Knight. She realised that while she'd been out in Hollywood living the dream she had, that her friend Kendall had been working so hard to keep his family going. She knew it wasn't a huge difference, but she could hardly imagine how hard it was to juggle. She hadn't seen the mature Kendall they were talking of. The Kendall she knew was just about as immature as his friends. Had a smile that made the girl's hearts skip beats, a smile that reached the perfect green eyes.

"That must have been pretty hard for him" Camille said quietly, she was glad that the four boys were out in L.A. Life was dull without them, and clearly they were all slightly better off in L.A. than in Minnesota, not matter how much they'd loved it.

"The hardest part was for us, I mean Kendall doesn't ask for help for anything when it comes to himself. He'll ask people to help us, or tell us to ask for help, but he doesn't. We watched our friend basically begin to fade away. So we came up with the Keep Kendall going plan. Since were weren't going to just watch our friend become a twig we could snap in half." Logan said. "We never thought we'd ever have to use it out here." Logan added motioning to the fact they were at the Palmwoods in Hollywood.

"We should go do that plan" Carlos blurted out, it was almost four in the afternoon and they hadn't been to see how Kendall was doing. They'd all been so tired, they'd forgotten about Kendall, and now was the time to go see how he was doing, suggest they take over while he got a bit of rest. The other three boys nodded and gathered up their stuff. They feared what might await them, but they were also very pleased to be going to see their friend.

"I'm coming with, I want to see this side of Kendall and this plan of yours" Camille said, leaving no room for arguments and the four of them, headed straight for apartment 2J. All curious as to what they would find.

* * *

><p>Kendall had just finally managed to get Katie back to sleep. She'd woken up feeling better, slightly less warm and coughing less, but she'd still managed to bring up everything she'd eaten. He was just glad she'd managed to make it to the bathroom - not the bowl, but at least the bathroom - before she had brought it all up. He cleaned her up quickly, got her changed and put her back to bed. It was almost four in the afternoon, and over the past weekend he'd slept close to about four, maybe five hours. Which considering it had been about four and a half days and about four nights for him. Including the Thursday and Friday. It meant he felt pretty much dead on his feet. He felt like he was back in Minnesota and he was home after a very long day of work, and knowing he wouldn't be able to go straight to bed.<p>

The phone was ringing, and this broke Kendall from his slight trance. He had been singing Katie to sleep, and then had just sat watching. He got up and went to get the phone. Unlike himself, Katie was a pretty heavy sleeper. She could sleep through almost anything if she was tired enough and he was sure right now she was. He picked up the phone, and then got the news. His mum's cousin had just passed. Kendall just said okay, asked his mum if he wanted them to get to Minnesota, to which she said no and then reminded him to take care of Katie and she'd be home at the end of the week. Putting the phone down on the dining room table, Kendall took a seat. The table still had the food he'd set out for lunch. But Kendall was in no way hungry. He sighed, feeling his eyes slowly close as he sat in the peaceful silence. It had been just as he was doing that, his mind reminded him of what needed to be done. His mind felt numb at this point, he was going through the motions but they meant little. Now his mom's cousin. He really was heading to the point of not being able to take much more of it. But he had things to, and he had to get them done before the return of his friends.

Although Katie had made it to the bathroom, she had not entirely made it to the toilet bowl. There was vomit a little everywhere. Wondering why on earth his sister of all people had to be sick, Kendall began cleaning up. He wanted to be the one sick, not here. It wasn't until he'd finished that he took a seat on the floor with his back against the wall, squeezed between the toilet and the bath that he let his eyes close, falling asleep before he could even register that he was falling asleep. The lack of sleep had finally gotten to him. Thankfully he'd sat down and hadn't just collapsed, since alone and in a bathroom, it could've ended badly.

Mere minutes after, the three other members of Big Time Rush, and their friend Camille walked quietly into the apartment. All four glanced around the apartment and registered that it was completely silent. They couldn't hear any voices, no whimpering or coughing or even the shuffling of feet. It was as if the room had been frozen. It was Camille who found this least odd, since she had never lived with any of the boys and therefore didn't know that silence like this was generally not a good sound. She saw the table of food, her mouth dropped slightly. Kendall had made lunch, but it look completely untouched. She'd always thought Kendall would be smart enough to remember to eat.

"Why would Kendall make himself a huge lunch, but then not eat it?" Camille asked looking at the three boys who were also at the table. Logan glanced to James then Carlos, they all knew what had happened, and they all felt terrible. It was clear that they knew Kendall had made them lunch expecting company, but they hadn't come. Even though Kendall would never say that, it was what he'd done, the jester was clear, they would've done the same.

"He didn't make it for himself, he made it for us all. it's what I would've done had it been me" James shook his head, he felt terrible. If only they'd found the stupid strength to go up to the room.

"I texted him to say we only had a half day at the studio, and he must have made lunch" Logan walked round the side of the table to the Kitchen.

"But we fell asleep, we were just so tired." Carlos exclaimed in a loud whisper. He felt awful. In reality they all did.

"The bin is empty, so I don't think he ate." Logan muttered standing back up straight and looking at his friends with a clearly upset expression. Logan looked around the room. As did the rest of them, generally they would just call out to the friend they couldn't see but considering that Katie was sick, they realised that it would be a very very bad idea to do such a thing.

"I'll check the bedrooms" James said, leaving the room and heading to where everyone slept. Carlos had picked up the phone which was on the table and looked at the last caller before setting it back in it's place. He saw that mama Knight had been the last one to call. James came back into the room and shook his head. "Not in mine and Carlos, yours and his, his mother's or in Katie's. Katie's asleep, and his guitar is in there, so he's probably put her to sleep lately."

"Mama Knight called about fifteen minutes ago. I checked." Carlos said. They all shared a look, and Camille was utterly confused. She didn't understand what that meant. She knew the cousin was sick, but she had two weeks as they said.

"Mama Knight would only call from Minnesota at this time if it was bad news. It's four here, but about sixish then. Which is when she has dinner with her sister's." Logan explained seeing the look on Camille's face.

"So, where is Kendall?" Camille asked, as Logan began walking to the bathroom. It was an odd place for his friend to maybe be, but there really wasn't anywhere else that he could be. He opened the door and sigh in relief when he saw the familiar set of legs stretched on the floor.

"Passed out on the bathroom floor." Logan replied, as soon as he'd said it, he walked towards Kendall, who's head was slumped forward, the blonde hair obscuring his face. He was holding onto a dirty cloth with one hand and with the other a can of closed air freshener. Logan heard his two other friends walk into the room, he didn't glance round his eyes were fixated on his friend.

"He looks dead, Logie, do something." Carlos' voice was quiet, almost begging. He hated seeing Kendall like that. He had hated it back in Minnesota and he hated it now. He knew that Kendall wasn't dead, but their friend was just so still that it was hard to not think the absolute worse. Logan didn't know what to do. He just took a step forward and shook Kendall's shoulder.

"Kenny. Kendall, wake up man." Logan said, not really wanting to wake up his friend but knowing he had to. They had to at least get Kendall to the couch so he could sleep a little better. He shook his friend's shoulder again. This seemed to awake the sleep figure, slowly he raised his head and all three felt themselves relax slightly as the green eyes of the boy stared back at them. Confusion on his face, and exhaustion clear, but they were all glad that he was awake.

"Kendall, come on lets get you to the couch. You can sleep there" Logan who'd been crouched at Kendall's level stood up slowly. Waiting for Kendall to follow suit.

"Logie, I can't go back to sleep." Carlos, Logan and James all exchange a worried glance as he said this. "I gotta get ready for work. I'll get fired, I need to go. What would my dad think if I got fired. Mama would be upset." They all realised that in this half asleep state their friend thought he was back in Minnesota. Slowly Kendall got to his feet and unsteadily took a seat forward.

"Kendall, we're not in Minnesota anymore, you don't work at the supermarket anymore. And your dad would be proud any way, even if you did get fired." James said to Kendall as calmly as he could manage, taking a step towards the boy to help him steady himself, and James knew that with the extra support he was providing it would be easier to get him to go to the couch to sleep.

"Yeah, Kenny, Remember we live in L.A, Hollywood. You don't work" Carlos added, as he stepped out the room, realising Camille was standing by herself at the end of the kitchen, who'd silently watched the exchange. There was no point saying that technically the whole being a band thing was work, but it was a different kind of work.

"Carlitos, James, Logie, I don't understand, whats going on? I've worked since I was fourteen. Sold my stuff to have money when I was younger. Why wouldn't I work now?" Kendall said, looking at his three friends as they walked him across to the couch. They all shared a glance. "I need to be the dad to Katie, and the man works to provide for his family."

"Because here in L.A. you don't need to. You just need to be the awesome big brother that you are. Go to sleep Kendall." Logan said. As James put him down on the couch and they all watched as he curled up and fell asleep almost straight away. All eyes moved from Kendall to the resident genius of the group. "He was just confused." Logan muttered. Taking a long breath, he couldn't believe what had just happened. Letting out a small sigh he looked to his friends "I had completely forgotten that Kendall had been working since he was fourteen. It must have just felt like one of those times from back in Minnesota when he worked so much that the exhaustion felt the same, so it didn't register in his mind that he was no longer in Minnesota."

"He sold his stuff to have money?" The sound of Camille's voice filled the room when Logan stopped talking. She couldn't quite understand it. Here he was seeing Kendall in a completely different light. No longer the carefree teen who's troubles were only girl problems. Here he was clearly so tired he couldn't remember where he was. Who had worked since she'd decided she wanted to be an actress and who acted like the father his sister didn't have.

"He was twelve at the time, Katie wanted a new bike since hers had gotten crushed under a car the year before. Bikes are expensive and mama Knight was having problems some money problems. Kendall would've shoveled driveways, but he'd broken his arm and nose due to hockey so he couldn't, so he sold almost half of everything he could sell so she'd get the bike." James said. "He told us about it, because he needed help getting his stuff to the place where he could sell them, and then getting the bike."

"First time we all realised Kendall had a father mode. Or as we liked to call it then, Superhero mode." Carlos added staring down at his friend. "But Superhero Kendall needs help sometimes even if he doesn't ask for it."

"You guys are Superheroes too." Camille said, which got all three to look round to her, shaking their heads as they did so. No. They all seemed to want to say. "Not in the same way as Kendall, but without you guys, and Logan can back me up here, without you guys making sure that Kendall was okay, making sure he ate, slept, everything, then he would've probably worked himself to the ground." Camille nodded at them all.

"She's right." Logan said. "You remember the night we came up with the plan. He came in looking as though he would just collapse on the ground. Like he was carrying the weight of the world, and he just couldn't support it anymore." The two others nodded. Logan pull one of the chairs over so he could sit down, Carlos and James following suit. "He'd been working non-stop, it had snowed all the previous day, and on that day. He was home early, but it was clear that had he been at work any longer he would've just collapsed."

"Yeah, he went to his room and came back in a short-sleeved t-shirt and dry jeans. The t-shirt looked as though it was about to fall off. I thought I was going to break him with a hug. But, he ate a sandwich, sat down and worked on his homework, stuff we'd literally done like weeks before." James sighed. "It was horrible."

"I, we, were just so worried about him, and he wasn't doing anything about it. Nothing, I think I was persuaded I was about to lose one of my closest friends." Carlos added, in an unusually small voice.

The two other boys nodded in agreement. And for the second time in their lives they all decided that no matter what came up in their lives, they would always help one another. That no matter how hard things got for Kendall they'd always be there to make sure he was okay. After all even superheroes need to be saved or helped every so often. And they hated seeing Kendall like this. They hated when his smile didn't reach the eyes, or when the boy was acting like an adult.

"I guess coming to Hollywood has been a really good thing for Kendall. For all of you. The best move of your Keep Kendall going plan to date." Camille finished with a smile.

"I guess it was."


End file.
